On the Verge of Extinction

When we were much younger, going to to beach always seemed like the ultimate fun thing to do. We ALWAYS looked forward to spending part of our holidays swimming in the open sea, playing with sand and making sand castles with a moat surrounding it. Sometimes we even bury people under the sand.

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Last Sunday, plans to go for the MPH warehouse sale were cancelled and Eunice quickly cooked up another plan. "Want to go to PD ah?", she asked me after church. Gosh! Such a short notice. I didn't mind, as long as the weather played its part.

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I asked A. Chris if Brian could go. She was so happy that someone is taking her grandson out but when I turned to look at Brian, he didn't seem happy. In fact, I could see the wheels turning in his head - to go or to play PS at home? Finally, after seeing my almost crestfallen, unbelievable face, he agreed. I had to assure him that it would be fun.

Later, I called En and asked her. She took a long time to decide. She asked questions like, "What time are we going?", "How long will we be there?" , "Who else would be there?" We literally had to coax her to go and she didn't sound too thrilled when she gave us an affirmative answer.

Gosh! I was thinking ... why are children these days so boring!

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Eunice called Minchee to bring Wayne along.

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Soon, from 4 people, the whole trip involved 10 people. Matthew brought his mum. She was kind enough to allow us to use her name in the club so that we could wash up after the swim.

For the past few weeks, it has been raining a lot in the evening and because of that, we got En to pray for a safe journey and great weather. And that was exactly what we got. :)

When we arrived at about 5pm, the sun was shining so brightly. We rubbed on some sun screen before heading to the sea, which was sooo far away, as it was low tide.

I expected both En and Brian to dash into the sea and start dipping themselves into the water. But they were quite hesitant. Earlier on, Esther told them not to go deeper than hip level but they only went until the water were up to their thighs and they stopped there. They didn't know what to do after that. Imagine that!!

The sea water kept getting into Brian's eyes and it was very painful. As for En, she splashed a little, but her hair was still dry.

Finally, we got them out of the water and told them to play with the sand. Brian, who is always gamed for everything, allowed us to bury him. En was scared of being asked to be the next to be buried so after a while, she played on her own.

It was such a hot day and the ice cream man who must've gone past us for the umpteenth time finally had business from me - I bought ice cream for everyone.

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After that, we asked them to go play in the sea (I remember last time we were in the water ALL THE TIME!!!! We didn't want to get out of the water ... and here we are, asking the kids to go play in the sea!). Eunice taught them a water game - collecting water in both palms and shooting it out.

Both Esther and I were at our picnic area, taking care of the bags and towels.

After a while we saw Eunice carrying a crying Brian. He stepped on something sharp but when we checked his foot, there was no blood nor was there any signs of a scratch mark. We assured him that the pain would be gone in a while but he was so afraid of stepping on something sharp again, he actually wore his slippers all the time, even when we went walking along the shoreline later.

Can you imagine that??? We really didn't know how to help them have fun, we had to walk along the shoreline and let the waves and sand massage our feet. We took a long walk.

After the long walk to the other end, Eunice decided to teach En and Brian to float. Brian managed to relax a little but En was so tensed. She was so worried that she would sink. Eunice kept telling her that her ears need to be in the water but En got scared. After a while, Eunice gave up and we started walking back.

Along the way, Brian saw a moat and decided to dig one the moment we arrived back at our picnic area. Both Tusi and I helped him with his project. Tusi jokingly said that we are digging a grave.

After digging a hole big enough, we filled it up with water. Everyone was asked to take a pail, run to the sea, collect water and fill this hole up. It was like a mini telematch. Everyone was racing against each other. Even little Wayne took part. Of course, Matthew was the one holding the pail. It was great fun. This was where I first saw them letting their hair down and having real fun.

Soon there was enough water. Brian and En went in while Wayne tried to put more sand into it.

Eunice, still not satisfied, demanded that En should try to float in the sea. So the both of them went off while Brian sat in the moat.

We came back to find that water in the moat disappeared into the sand. Brian had a brilliant idea. He began digging a channel that would go all the way to the sea. What a clever boy! Once again, we helped him. Soon, the tide came in and as we dug further out, the waves pushed the waters into the little channel.

But alas, it was getting late and the dark skies loomed above us. We told the very disappointed kids that we had to leave soon and that they had to wash up in the sea before going into the club house for a proper bath. It was just too bad they stay until the waters washed into the moat.

They went out to the sea, washed themselves and plonked onto the sand, making sand angels (as opposed to snow angels). It was such a funny sight. I guess they are at last getting the hang of playing in the sand and sea.

It took a while before they got up, washed themselves again and went into the clubhouse for a proper bath.

We left PD at 7.30pm. Everyone was tired AND hungry!!! The drive back to my parents' place took about 1/2 hour and the moment we arrived there, everyone ate dinner as though they had never eaten for days.

I was so exhausted, I went to bed at 10.50pm that night. Believe me, I slept like a log!!! :)

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I wonder if we will be doing this again anytime soon. Outings to the beach are almost on the verge of extinction. Parents normally bring their children to the nice, clean and very blue chlorine-filled pool. It's fun but nothing compared to the open sea. :)